Should I do a tandem skydive?

[Solidgoldstu 0]

Many years ago I dislocated and fractured my shoulder, I do not have any problems with it, but a few years ago I did the airkix in Milton Keynes, after I had pins and needles in my arm/hand for a couple of hours. I really want to skydive, but should I? any input would be helpful.

[FlyBear 1]

A doctor may be able to answer your question ;)

[adagen 0]

Try a few more tunnel sessions - that'll let you know whether you have a weakness that is likely to get worse or if your shoulder was reacting to the shock of unexpected exercise.

Anne

[DougH 270]

If he is having actual shoulder problems then a few more tunnel sessions should pretty much finish his shoulder off.

And then he can be doing tandems after he has his shoulder surgery and he gets the AOK for the orthopedic.

Man we give such great advice here.

In general the tunnel is going to be much more stress on the shoulders, and for a longer period of time. Getting in an out of the tunnel also has a knack for tweaking shoulders as well. Seen it happen as people put their arms on the door, and then fly their lower half through... blamo hyper extended shoulder.

I won't say a tandem will be no problem, I am no doctor, and even if we were none of us know how jacked up your shoulder is already.

But the stress on your shoulder can be managed and brought down to a lower level than a tunnel session. The few students who didn't want to take their hands off their harness after exit and drogue deployment comes to mind.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[popsjumper 2]

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Try a few more tunnel sessions - that'll let you know whether you have a weakness that is likely to get worse or if your shoulder was reacting to the shock of unexpected exercise.

Please be careful giving advice to other young jumpers. It's quite typical that the advice youngsters give is wrong.

We do understand your desire to help. But, please, wait until you have a good bit of experience under your belt.


For the OP, only your doctor can properly evaluate your shoulder's condition. You need that info to make an intelligent decision. Do that first.

OTOH, Doug is right in that a tandem maybe wouldn't hurt if you kept your arms out of the wind.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[obelixtim 150]

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Many years ago I dislocated and fractured my shoulder, I do not have any problems with it, but a few years ago I did the airkix in Milton Keynes, after I had pins and needles in my arm/hand for a couple of hours. I really want to skydive, but should I? any input would be helpful.

Don't be such a pussy!!. If you fold y
And don't bother asking a doctor....they know jack shit when it comes to skydiving. They will always say no.

A tandem skydive is not like gymnastic,s nor anything.like it. Tell your TM about it and he'll sort it out.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[adamUK 3]

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Try a few more tunnel sessions

That's inadvisable. A friend of mine suffered nerve damage from a pre-existing shoulder condition by repeated tunnel sessions. She got better but took 6+ months. I'd see a doctor first.

[Andy9o8 2]

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Quote

Many years ago I dislocated and fractured my shoulder, I do not have any problems with it, but a few years ago I did the airkix in Milton Keynes, after I had pins and needles in my arm/hand for a couple of hours. I really want to skydive, but should I? any input would be helpful.

Don't be such a pussy!!. If you fold y
And don't bother asking a doctor....they know jack shit when it comes to skydiving. They will always say no.

A tandem skydive is not like gymnastic,s nor anything.like it. Tell your TM about it and he'll sort it out.

Tim, I generally read your posts with a good deal of deference to your judgment and experience. But I respectfully disagree with your approach in this instance. I'm the first to bitch about doctors' "default" inclination to just tell a patient not to skydive. But there are some specific instances in which an expert medical opinion is crucial to the decision chain, and this certainly appears to be one of them.

[david3 0]

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Quote

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Many years ago I dislocated and fractured my shoulder, I do not have any problems with it, but a few years ago I did the airkix in Milton Keynes, after I had pins and needles in my arm/hand for a couple of hours. I really want to skydive, but should I? any input would be helpful.

Don't be such a pussy!!. If you fold y
And don't bother asking a doctor....they know jack shit when it comes to skydiving. They will always say no.

A tandem skydive is not like gymnastic,s nor anything.like it. Tell your TM about it and he'll sort it out.

Tim, I generally read your posts with a good deal of deference to your judgment and experience. But I respectfully disagree with your approach in this instance. I'm the first to bitch about doctors' "default" inclination to just tell a patient not to skydive. But there are some specific instances in which an expert medical opinion is crucial to the decision chain, and this certainly appears to be one of them.

Sounds like the OP should consult a skydiving doctor.

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

Tim, I generally read your posts with a good deal of deference to your judgment and experience. But I respectfully disagree with your approach in this instance. I'm the first to bitch about doctors' "default" inclination to just tell a patient not to skydive. But there are some specific instances in which an expert medical opinion is crucial to the decision chain, and this certainly appears to be one of them.

Hence the suggestion:
"For the OP, only your doctor can properly evaluate your shoulder's condition. You need that info to make an intelligent decision. Do that first."

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[obelixtim 150]

Hi Andy....I suspect you are reacting more to my "pussy" comment, rather than the rest of my post....fair enough.

But, in my experience doctors nearly always go with the "no" option, and I've seen many cases where this has stopped people making a jump they were perfectly capable of making.

Many years ago in NZ, for example, we dropped the requirement for over 40 year olds to get a doctors medical to jump, instead allowing them to use their own judgement and take responsibility for themselves.

And older people, especially, really appreciate being treated as consenting adults, rather than old imbeciles who cannot make a judgement for themselves.

I am not aware of this change ever being/resulting in an issue. And thats after literally hundreds of thousands of safe skydives.

Of course people are advised to get another opinion if they are unsure. The only medical opinion worth a damn in my view would be from an aviation specialist, but even in this case I don't know if their advice would be that valid.

Prolly the best advice would be from a doctor who is also a skydiver, and I know a few of them.

I know a few solo jumpers who had pre existing shoulder problems when they came into the sport, and none of them have had trouble while skydiving.

( Maybe thats just luck, but hell, we ARE risk takers aren't we).....

In this case, a tandem, as I pointed out, the guy could take a harness grip with both hands across his body, with elbows tucked in, and hold that position throughout the FF part of the jump, and under canopy if he wanted to. As a precaution he could also get his troublesome shoulder strapped prior to the jump, as other sports people often do.

I cannot see how he could have a problem, certainly there would be no more stress than he would encounter doing any other activity in life.

Ultimately, its his choice, but knowing how things work in the UK with regards to skydiving, I'm sure he'll run across a whole pile of obstacles anyway....in the UK they always look for reasons why something cannot be done....rather than "it CAN be done and here's how"....

There are already plenty of examples of people with medical problems making a safe skydive...paraplegics, octogenerians, cancer sufferers, kids even.

A fully informed TM should be easily able to sort this guy out safely.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[potatoman 0]

YES

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[adagen 0]

I'm making the suggestion on the basis of long (5 years) tunnel experience. The whole point about trying out a shoulder in the tunnel is that if the OP feels there is a problem, he can get out immediately, with no worries about canopy handling. And tunnel time can be bought in quantities as low as a couple of minutes so there's no need to commit to a major session.

The chance of the OP getting sensible advice from a doctor round here on a sporting activity is pretty low - the normal response is to say don't do whatever it is. That said, there are some good sports physios in the area.

Anne